Solace
by Haus of Hinton
Summary: Angela would find solace in rogue boys until the day she grew up and realized she wanted a prince charming. One Shot


**~Solace~ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from S.E. Hinton's universe, or either does my co-author. **

**A/N: This is my first try at writing in first person. I'm willing to give it a shot. Please enjoy. I will warn that I'm not particularly good at this point of view, read if you dare. This is a one-shot, set up as a prequel. You can enjoy it as just a simple one-shot, or if you like continue with our multi-chaptered story as soon as it is posted. **

When I was a little girl, I would dream of a fairytale land. A land where I would one day grow up into a beautiful woman and meet my prince charming. The first part of my fairytale came true, growing up into a good lookin' woman. The second part never came true though, and it probably would never come true.

In the real world, there was no prince charming. No man who wanted to rescue me from the hell I was raised in. No man cared enough about me to come rescue me.

The only so-called prince charming I ever had was Bryon Douglas. And Bryon was far from a prince charming...

If there was one boy that would get me real mad to the point that I wanted to rip my own hair out, it would have to be Bryon Douglas. Bryon Douglas could drive me over the edge. His cocky attitude and his so-called innocence for instance would drive me insane. He thought he was real swell, the best good lookin' guy to ever hit town. Yeah, well he would never be the best good lookin' guy to hit town. No good lookin' guy was as ugly as him.

"Come on, baby." Bryon hit the brakes as he stopped in front of my house, "Can't we just give up the arguing?"

_Can't we just give up the arguing? _No, I'm not letting go of this argument. Not this time.

"No!" I retorted, "You just sat there in the diner and let that kid try to pick up on me!"

Bryon chuckled, shaking his head innocently, "He's a fourteen year old kid, I had nothin' to worry about."

I had enough, enough of everything. I opened the car door, gripping my hand on the door handle tightly. That was the only thing I could do to keep myself from giving Bryon a good knuckle sandwich. I shut the car door with a careless slam, stomping towards my front porch.

I was tired of the same old thing, same old routine with boys. The routine where we would argue, then make-out hot and heavy somewhere. Maybe I was finally growing up like Tim had said. He'd say that one day I would just wake up and not find the same things as fun as I used to. I still don't dig.

I heard Bryon call out from the car, "Why don't you call baby Curtis so he can defend your honor!" He snickered at the idea of me having any honor, "Yeah, what honor? You don't got any!"

I spun around as soon as I reached my front porch, unleashing a string of curse words that were especially reserved for him.

**

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My bedroom was my everything, the only place I could go that was comforting. Hell, boyfriends were supposed to be comforting. When you had a boyfriend like Bryon, all you would receive would be the cold shoulder though. All he ever wanted to do was make-out; he didn't care about me. Still though, I kept running towards him. I didn't know why I would keep takin' back boys who would never treat me right. I just took them back.

I plopped down on my bed sheets that were a soothing navy blue. I laid on my stomach, kicking my aching feet back and forth. Wearing high heels all night could be a real drag.

I gazed around my bedroom, the only thing I ever really had in the world. It was stable, there when I needed my solitude. It was the place I used to get away from my stupid family. My older brother, Tim, who thought he knew everything there was to know. My other brother, Curly, who would never stop picking at me. He was real annoying. My mom who was always real sad, so sad she never cared to notice me. And lastly, my step-dad who was a real pain in the ass. He thought he could boss me around and tell me what to do. Hell, no one tells Angela Shepard what to do. No one.

My bedroom door suddenly cracked open as I dangerously leered at the intruder of my solitude, my brother Curly.

"Angela." Curly stepped into my bedroom, shaking his head with uncontainable laughter, "I heard some little munchkin was tryin' to pick up on you. I knew all you attracted was ugly guys, but you don't need to start robbin' out of the cradle."

Before I knew it, I threw a pillow at my brother, "Shut up, Curly!"

Curly just laughed at my situation, buckling down with little sympathy for me. He just howled and howled, loving to see me in such a embarrassing situation. Maybe he was right, maybe kids were the only boys who wanted me. Hell, even Ponyboy Curtis didn't want me.

Curly turned, leaving my bedroom with a storm of comments and insults for me. I jumped off my bed, angrily slamming my door shut as soon as he left. I turned back around, walking to the other side of the room where I left my diary hidden under one of my bags of make-up.

I needed to blow off steam, writing in my diary always helped. I snatched my old, rugged and brown paperback diary, plopping down on my bed once again.

I opened my diary, pulling the pencil out that was stashed in there. I turned to the first blank page I found, quickly scribbling down my first thoughts.

_Dear Diary, _

_This is something I would never admit to my girlfriends or brothers. Sometimes though, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be treated like a fairytale princess. Like a lady, and not just some greaser girl. Tonight made me realize something real important. Maybe I don't want to be Bryon's girl anymore; maybe I'd rather go for a good guy like Ponyboy Curtis. One who hasn't dated half of the high school. _

_Tonight, really made me realize a lot. _

_I was sitting at the food booth, Bryon across from me. He had a grin plastered on his face. We had just finished sharing a chocolate Sunday. I could still feel my brain frozen from the coldness of the ice cream. _

_As I sat across from him, I couldn't help but gawk at the scenario that unfolded behind him. Behind him, the jukebox stood a mere distance away. At the jukebox, were three Socs. I knew two of them from high school; they were cousins by the name of Noelle Dale and Lewis Britt. Lewis was always a real jerk, real snobby if you ask me. He was the definition of a Soc. Golly; he's so bad that he makes the other Socs look like real nice people. Lewis would always fight everyone, anywhere. It didn't matter. He had even tangled it up my brother Curly a few times. Lewis' cousin, Noelle, on the other hand, was a real sweet girl. She was a bit slow or for better words lacked common sense, but she was nice. I would examine Noelle say hi to all her friends down the locker hallway, not taking in account of her reputation. Not like Lewis did. _

_The other boy with them was one I had never seen before. Judging from his looks, I could tell he went to junior high school. He was pretty small for his age, small boned and short. He looked real reserved, shoving his hands in his pockets. _

_I could hear their conversation, ignoring Bryon as he tried to talk to me. These days, I would just find myself purposely ignoring whatever Bryon would have to say. It wasn't like he was the president of some grand country and deserved my full attention. Hell, I know he ignores me when I talk up a storm. _

_Noelle was ranting, "Lewis, leave Leo alone. He doesn't need anymore trouble." _

_Lewis grinned wildly as he took a glance at me, "Why don't you just ask her on a date already, Leo? You'd be the best offer she ever had, look at the trash she dates. Bryon Douglas." Lewis paused dramatically as he laughed, "Ain't a prize."_

_I leered dangerously at Lewis, opening my mouth. There was no way I was going to let Lewis talk about me like that, treating me like I didn't even matter, "What the hell are you sayin' over there?" _

_Bryon cocked his head, turning around to glance at Lewis. He surprisingly took up for me, "Hey, greasy Soc, what the hell are you sayin'?" _

_Lewis shrugged indifferently, "All I was sayin' is that you're trash and she's trash." _

_Noelle's jaw dropped, "Lewis, stop it." _

_Leo shook his head, "That's not nice Lewis." _

_I growled, feeling my fuse ready to light up and explode, "You got a lot of nerve, you shit." _

_He snorted though, "Hey, all I'm sayin' is the truth. You shouldn't even waist your time on her, Leo."_

_He was ignoring me as I began saying numerous insults, acting as though I was invisible. That was the worse insult of all, not reacting to anything I did. _

_Lewis shrugged as he suddenly found the jukebox boring, "I'm leavin'." _

_As Lewis walked out of the diner, Bryon suddenly stood up angrily. He didn't even say anything to me; all he did was simply walk out of the diner with intentions of fighting Lewis. Noelle ran out of the diner, knowing all too well what would occur if she didn't interfere. _

_I lowered my eyes to the table, swallowing a lump that formed in my throat. Lewis was a real greasy Soc, burning someone without even lighting a fire. _

_I sat alone at the diner, lifting my eyes to glare at Leo, "Kid, what in the hell was that all about?"_

_Leo reluctantly walked over to me, sheepishly looking at his feet, "It ain't a big deal; my cousin just likes to start problems." _

_I knew that was a lie, "Sit down." _

_Leo quickly sat down in Bryon's previous seat. He placed his elbows on the table, uncomfortably shifting his body weight. _

_"Now tell me the truth kid." I grinded my teeth, I didn't take up too easily to being lied to. Tim had always taught me that know one should be lying to my face, it was the ultimate disrespect. _

_Leo looked intimidated by me, a blush creeping up on his cheeks, "All right, I'll tell you. I just...I just wanted to ask you to the drive-in. I didn't expect you to be here with Bryon though; I didn't wanna make a move with him here. I didn't even know you had a boyfriend, I'm not that-" _

_I interrupted, "Look, kid, ask out someone your own age. I ain't interested." _

_Leo gazed downwards at the table, looking quite embarrassed and sad. I felt terrible after being so harsh, but the kid had to be introduced to the real world one time or another. _

_That's what Tim would always say, the real world was harsh. You just would have to get used to it. _

I stopped writing, slamming my diary shut. I still couldn't believe that a Soc kid was interested in me. I've had tons of greaser kids have crushes on me. Never a Soc one though.

I rolled over, laying down on my back and peered up at my ceiling. I guess the times really were changing, Socs _were_ becoming more liberal...

Leo looked like a nice kid, one that would grow up into a handsome man one day. One day he would find that fairytale princess, the girl of his dreams that fit into his perfect world.

That girl would never be me...

**A/N: We hope you enjoyed our short little one-shot that's a prequel to our multi-chaptered story, **_**The Mirror of Grim,**_** that we soon will be posting. Please review and be honest, it was my first real experience with first person point of view. I'd love some helpful tips for improvement :)**


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